Pigs protect their skin from the sun and cool down by rolling around in the mud.

Pigs

Domestic pigs are descendants of wild boars. They are cloven-hoofed animals, although they are not ruminants like other hoofed animals at the zoo. Pigs are corpulent and have short legs along with a short, thick neck. Their forehead is flat and they have a long snout and small eyes. Pigs have bristled sparse hair that were used to make tooth brushed in the olden days. The pigs are usually white, but there are also dark and spotted pigs. The Sows give birth to about 10-12 piglets at once and have 14 teats. Which means all their young can usually nurse at the same time. After 24 hours they piglets have established which piglet goes on which teat and they nurse at the same spot for the remainder of the nursing period.

Type of family

Boar, sow and piglet

Mating season

All year round

Number of young

An average of 10-12 piglets

Arrival time in Iceland

They came with the settlers

Weight

Around 300 kg

Pregnancy period

3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days (144-116 days)

Uses

Meat, skin and hair

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